Founders Factory offers founders capital, operational support from a team of 100 hands-on experts, and unrivalled access to industry leaders from across our corporate partners. Since 2015, Founders Factory's 300 portfolio companies - 80 built in the Studio - have raised $720mm follow-on funding from notable investors, including NfX, Coatue, Forerunner, Tencent, Mubadala and firstminute Capital.
Our Venture Studio is a fast-track for entrepreneurs to go from idea to scale, while leveraging the significant unfair advantage of our corporate partners.
Together we will:
1. Validate ideas
2. Build the MVP
3. Test, iterate and acquire first customers
And when we’re confident we’ve proven the concept, we’ll help you accelerate your launch with an additional cash injection.
🧐 What is GridShare?
GridShare is the first concept to come out of our new Milan Venture Studio in partnership with Fastweb.
GridShare is a fractional renewable energy solution, enabling people and businesses to part own solar farms and get access to a green energy supply through utility partners. GridShare enables users to buy the share of a solar farm depending on their yearly usage and receive energy through the grid saving money on their bill. By investing in solar a user builds independence from energy price fluctuations and can bring the connection with them, allowing renters and those living in residential buildings to transition to solar - making this a relatively liquid asset.
GridShare builds, develops and manages the solar farm on behalf of shareholders, partnering with utility providers to deliver the clean energy generated to the users whose energy bills are then discounted by the utility partners.
In the future there’s scope for GridShare to expand into P2P energy trading and more hyper-local solutions.
⏰ Why now?
The energy price spikes of 2022 and growing awareness around sustainability have caused an increased consumer demand for sustainable and affordable energy.
In Italy in particular, there’s been high adoption to residential solar due to government incentives and schemes funding the installation of solar as a 110% tax rebate (50% from 2023). This scheme only targets those who own their own housing and have the upfront capital to pay for the installation, meaning there’s an unmet need for those renting or owning apartments.
Advances in renewable technology (in particular solar) and declining costs have made it easier and more cost effective to install solar. Solar now has the lowest LCOE of all energy sources, making it the cheapest energy to generate over its lifetime, and profitable when selling back to the grid.
The global trend towards green energy communities also continues to grow, showing the demand for clean, cheap energy. However, forming these communities is difficult due to uncertain regulatory conditions. Gridshare meets this demand and eases access to ownership of green energy.
🎯 As Founder & CEO of this business you will:
Execute the successful build and launch of GridShare Set a clear vision and direction for the business Have a passion for renewables and a targeted interest in solar farms (expertise in the space even better) Have proven experience in growth and customer acquisition Have a strong commercial skill set - you can easily navigate financial forecasting Ideally have done this at a bricks and not just bytes business Be brilliant at building and leading a world class team Be experienced in, or comfortable with, fundraising from VCs💸 What you’ll get:
A validated concept and intellectual property A dedicated studio budget including the founder stipend, specialist resource and infrastructure budget. A studio squad lead and full time venture builder, as well, as support from the wider FF team, including leadership/mentorship/network Access to specialist support, including finance, legal, and - where appropriate - to the relevant FF investor Once the MVP is launched, we'll incorporate your venture as an independent company and invest an initial €160K into your new business 6 month accelerator programme and alumni community access. Unparalleled access to our partners and wider network (for life!)We are committed to building a diverse culture and are eager to receive applications from all backgrounds. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination.